NSW power company Macquarie Generation is Australia’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to Department of Climate Change data.

The company, which operates the massive Liddell and Bayswater coal-fired power stations in the NSW Hunter Valley, reported total direct (so-called ”Scope 1”) emissions of 25.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gasses, or about 4 per cent of Australia’s total.

Once audited and refined the Scope 1 NGER emissions data could provide an indication of a corporation’s potential liability under the Government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

Also published last week were indirect or ”Scope 2” emissions data, including major power users and electricity network operators and retailers. The top 10 Scope 2 emitters were Alcoa Australia, Rio Tinto, Transgrid, Wesfarmers, Hydro Aluminium Kurri Kurri, Woolworths, BHP, Queensland Electricity Transmission, SP Australia, CHEDA Holdings, Energy Australia and ENERGEX.

See The Age 2nd March 2010 for the full article.